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The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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Armenian Weekly On-Line, Volume 73, Number 16, April 21, 2007
Interview:
1. The Weekly's Interview with Congressman McGovern
>From Armenia to Darfur: Genocide, Politics and Advocacy
Commentary:
2. The Armenian Genocide
By Kay Mouradian
3. A Bracing Slap
By Garen Yegparian
Literature:
4. Henri Troyat (1911-2007)
By Khatchig Mouradian
5. Beyond Death .
By Vahé Oshagan
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
Events:
6. Bunker Hill Remembers Genocides
By Andy Turpin
7. Jay Winter Speaks at Tufts on Human Rights Utopia and the Legacy of Rene
Cassin
By Andy Turpin
8. Anthropologist Nona Shahnazarian at ALMA
--------------------------------------------- -------------------------
1. The Weekly's Interview with Congressman McGovern
>From Armenia to Darfur: Genocide, Politics and Advocacy
WORCESTER, Mass. (A.W.)-Congressman James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) recently
returned from Africa where he witnessed first-hand the people of Darfur
living in refugee camps in Chad. In an interview conducted by Weekly editor
Khatchig Mouradian on April 13 in Worcester, McGovern discussed the current
humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the West's response, and the importance of
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
The interview can be viewed online at www.haireniktv.com.
Mouradian asked McGovern what he saw on the ground. "I tried to get into
Sudan and they refused to give me a visa to go in," McGovern said,
"apparently because I was arrested in front of the Sudanese embassy a year
ago in protest of the genocide in Darfur."
"So instead I flew into Chad, which neighbors Sudan, and went to the border
of Darfur and visited the refugee camps filled with Sudanese refugees," he
said.
McGovern was in awe of the people he saw there. "It was an experience, the
likes of which I've never had before in my life," he said. "I visited two
Sudanese refugee camps and dozens and dozens of refugees. Every one of them
had a horror story."
Mouradian asked why the U.S. appeared to be so lead-footed when it came to
taking decisive action to stop the genocide in Darfur. He asserted
derisively, "I think the United States is not reacting for a number of
reasons. First, we're still bogged down in Iraq right now, which is viewed
by some in the Bush administration as, 'We can't do much more than we're
doing right now.' Two, we have this tight relationship with China, and yet
China is sending helicopters and weapons to the Sudanese government, which
are being used against the people of Darfur."
He suggested the U.S. lead the charge in the world community by boycotting
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "China isn't concerned with human rights,"
he said, "but it is concerned with how it's viewed around the world."
He quashed any support for U.S. intelligence services taking a blind eye to
the genocide there on account of Sudan being an anti-terrorism ally. "Some
have told me that because the government of Sudan kicked Osama Bin Laden out
of that country, that there may be some kind of intelligence cooperation
that we [the U.S.] don't want to upset, under the 'War on Terror.' Forgive
me, but what do you call a genocide if not terror?"
McGovern called for an immediate UN Security Council Resolution to safeguard
the Darfur region, and in the meantime rallied, "We need to start talking
about things like a 'no-fly zone' that a combination of France and some
other countries can enforce. There's a French military base in Chad that
could be used to keep the planes to enforce a no-fly zone over Sudan."
Mouradian asked whether U.S. troops serving on peacekeeping missions would
be well received in a post-Iraq world. "A UN peacekeeping force probably won't
consist of U.S. troops," McGovern admitted. "Because quite frankly our
credibility around the world is so diminished that having U.S. troops there
would probably add fuel to the fire. Further, you want people who speak the
language and are sensitive to the issues of Darfur."
McGovern pragmatically outlined what he thought the U.S. role should be.
"Seventy-three percent of the American people believe we should take action
in Darfur. And we can provide the funding, or some of the funding, for a UN
peacekeeping force. That's what our role can be, to provide logistic support
where it's appropriate."
He chided the nation's current efforts. "I am ashamed as a Congressman, a
citizen of the United States and a citizen of the world that we're not doing
more."
McGovern praised the Armenian community for its solidarity with the Darfur
intervention activists, saying, "One of the things I think the Armenian
community has been out front on is that issue of ending the genocide in
Darfur. Because of the unique history of the Armenian people, I think they
have a special understanding, a painful understanding of what a genocide is
and what it feels like to be ignored."
Promoting a resolute and motivated campaign of activism and letter writing,
he said. "I tell people they need to raise hell with their Congressmen and
Senators. Tell them, this is an issue I expect you, as my Senator, to take a
leadership role on. Don't tell me you're sympathetic with the situation. Don't
send me back a letter saying you, too, believe it's genocide. What I want is
a letter back from you that you're pushing the Bush administration and the
international community."
McGovern spoke about the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Congress
and the Turkish lobby's attempts to prevent its passage. He was adamant in
saying, "I'm tired of excuses. We need to do what's right. We need to do
what's truthful. That means acknowledging that there was a genocide
committed against the Armenians early in the last century. I'm sorry that
Turkey doesn't want to acknowledge the truth, but that's the truth."
"It says a lot about who you are today, when you acknowledge the past. If
Turkey wants to have a fit over this, let them have a fit over this. If they
want to remove their embassy from the United States, let them do it."
He added, "I want the House to run the bill. I want the Senate to run the
bill. Send it to the President."
McGovern ended by emphasizing that it is our civic duty as Americans to
honor the victims and survivors by acknowledging the Genocide. "They're our
people. They're our citizens. If for no other reason than to pay our proper
respects to our citizens, we should do it."
Congressman James McGovern can be reached by calling (508) 831-7356 or (202)
225-6101.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
2. The Armenian Genocide
By Kay Mouradian
My mother was a survivor of the Armenian genocide. In my youth she told me
stories about her childhood in Turkey, but those stories went in one ear and
right out the other. At the time I was not interested and didn't care to
understand what had happened to the Armenians living in Turkey during World
War I. Then at age 83 my mother's physical and mental capacity began to
fail. She was not expected to survive her congestive heart failure, but she
returned from the edge of death. She lived for another five years, but in
that time she had three more near death experiences, and each time she
became more alert than before, as if her brain cells had been revitalized.
Interestingly, she also became more loving. Everyone around her felt it.
That's when I decided to write about her childhood and the genocide that had
changed her life and had broken her heart. I spent more than 10 years
researching and writing a novel based on my mother's tragic young life in
Turkey. In my mind's eye, as I sat in front of my computer in my comfortable
home, I was there . walking in the march with my mother and her family as
they, along with two million Ottoman-Armenians, were forced from their homes
and herded toward the barren deserts of Syria.
It was an emotionally painful experience for me as this wholesale
deportation of a people became a death march. More than a million Armenians
perished through disease, starvation and exhaustion. It was much easier for
those who were murdered wholesale, for they did not endure the daily
suffering and struggle not knowing when they or their children would fall to
their deaths by the side of the road.
Turkey to this day denies that this historical event was genocide. The U.S.
government has supported Turkey in its denial and instead prefers to use
words such as mass killings, massacres, atrocities and annihilation, even as
39 of our 50 states recognize it as genocide. Today, with bipartisan support
of more than 183 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, the Armenian
Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106) will present an opportunity for the United
States to join those 19 countries that already recognize the Armenian
catastrophe as genocide.
My own research drew from the work of journalists, diplomats and
missionaries who lived in the Ottoman Empire during that horrific period.
Many at that time stated that the Armenian deportations were an attempt to
exterminate the race. Henry Morgenthau Sr., the U.S. Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire from 1913-1916, in his memoir referred to this tragedy as
"the murder of a nation." Dictionaries define genocide as the deliberate and
systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group. That simple
definition alone implies that genocide did occur against the Armenian
population in Turkey in 1915.
The word genocide did not become part of the world's vocabulary until WWII
when a Polish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, coined the word to bring attention to
Adolph Hitler's attempt to exterminate the European Jews. As with all
genocides, the intellectuals, the doctors, teachers, lawyers, opposing
politicians, and those creative souls whose art and writings inspire their
people, are the first to be eliminated. Those few Armenians who survived in
the Syrian desert with practically no sustenance, no shelter and wearing the
same clothes they wore when they were deported three years earlier, had only
one concern at the end of the war-to restore their bodies and find lost
family. None had the ability or wherewithal to think about rebuilding their
culture. Now, after the passing of a long 90 years, Armenian creativity is
beginning to flower anew, especially here in America.
The epilogue in my book informs the reader that the protagonist in my novel
is based on my mother and her family, and their trials during the Armenian
Genocide. As a victim my mother held onto that hurt and its partner, hatred,
for all of her life, but during her last five years she let go of that
hatred. Those five years were both magic and mystical, and she is an example
of what can happen when a victim lets go of deep hurt.
How much better the world would be if perpetrators exhibited that kind of
humanness and took full responsibility for their actions. If the Turks and
the Armenians, whose hatred of one another is well known throughout the
world, can sit together and have a conversation about the possibility of
reconciliation, they could become role models for those whose longstanding
and encrusted tribal attitudes have caused horrific pain to those who are
not as they.
Then, healing for both the perpetuator and the victim becomes a possibility.
------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
3. A Bracing Slap
By Garen Yegparian
Armenians were aghast and stunned by the Glendale Municipal Election
results. Many were quivering after election night. What if those Armenians
who actually did get elected (in the school and college board races) were to
lose when all the remaining ballots (late absentee, provisional and
corrected) were counted? How could this be? Isn't this "our town," our
ghetto?
Given the flavor of much of the following analysis, I feel compelled to
state that I do not always advocate supporting Armenians over non-Armenians.
Rather, I want to support those who will be best positioned to do most for
our community, no different than any other interest group.
Sit back, take a look at the election results and ponder with me. First let's
take a look at some numbers after they're manipulated.
You see that 24,173 ballots were counted. In each of the races-city
council, school board and community college board-every voter was entitled
to two votes. So a maximum of 48,346 votes were possible. In each of
these, some number of votes were blank, invalid because of overvoting (more
than two names marked), or contained write-in names, decreasing the tally.
Let's address the good news first. In the school and college board races,
the four ANC endorsees, Mary Boger (SB), Nayiri Nahabedian (SB), Vahe
Peroomian (CB) and Tony Tartaglia (CB) won. However, it was a bit of a
nail-biter for the two Armenians on this list, especially Nayiri. Given how
close the next highest vote-getter was, they both might have been bumped
after election night as the remaining ballots were counted. You might
rightly ask why this happened, but we'll get there soon. Also, Ardashes
Kassakhian, the Glendale city clerk and another child of our community's
growing electoral strength, is to be complimented on his handling of a
sometimes tense election.
The real debacle was in the city council race. An Armenian incumbent,
generally liked in the city, Rafi Manoukian, was not reelected. Dave
Weaver, the other incumbent candidate, was, along with John Drayman who had
just missed being elected two years ago. Why this happened is attributable
to three factors.
The saddest of these three is the tension, even infighting, among the
Armenian candidates. Quite simply, the two who got the least votes, Chahe
Keuroghelian and Vrej Agajanian, henceforth known as the spoilers, knowingly
cost the other two, Greg Krikorian and Rafi, the election. In their
absence, the two ANC endorsees, Rafi and Greg, would have been elected. How
can I say this confidently? I am convinced the spoilers got virtually not a
single non-Armenian's vote. As a consequence of Chahe's history, true or
not, he is unlikely to garner non-Armenian votes, and Vrej is simply an
insufficiently known quantity in anything but Armenian circles, and that,
thanks to his television show. They could easily have done the math, based
on their results two years ago, and stayed out, if indeed they had wanted to
represent the interests of the Armenian community. Let me point out that
out of a maximum possible 47,536 votes in the city council race (after
making the corrections mentioned above), tallying all the votes for all the
city council candidates yields 40,588. Where are the missing 7,000 votes?
Victims of bullet voting advocated by candidates to their closest circles.
Draw your own conclusions.
You do the math. Even if we assume that half the combined vote total of the
spoilers came from those who would not otherwise have voted, that still
leaves some 3900 votes that would likely have gone to Raffi and/or Greg.
Unfortunately, the latter two were also insufficiently supportive of one
another and ended up hurting their chances. In this context, it might have
been possible for the ANC to bring the two together, but it would have been
difficult. I suspect this rivalry also hurt supporters' enthusiasm and
inclination to campaign.
Ara Najarian's, another sitting council member, support of Rafi and Dave
Weaver hurt Greg's chances.
One of the spoilers' actions is particularly egregious. An example is his
argument that Rafi should not be elected because he is considering running
for city treasurer in two years. Why this is wrong is beyond me. Think
senators running for president mid-term. But let's assume it is wrong. The
same person making this argument, Mr. Keuroghelian, had no problem
supporting a candidate, just one year ago who was doing the same thing.
This candidate for State Assembly was none other than Frank Quintero who
would have left his City Council term unfinished had he been elected. Can
Chahe spell d-o-u-b-l-e s-t-a-n-d-a-r-d?
Frank is someone with electoral aspirations. His campaign was abetted by
those sending out hate mail attacking Paul Krekorian, the other candidate in
that race. Chahe decided to support Frank against Paul, who was the
standard bearer for the Armenian community. Chahe did not condemn the
mailer. This is all normal in the world of electoral politics. There is
something wrong when Chahe solicits the Armenian vote pretending to
represent that community's interests. There is something wrong when he
knowingly damages the chances of those running who truly do represent our
interests, not just their own political aspirations. So this spoiler has
chosen to become a tool of another political faction in town, one currently
antithetical to Armenian interests. Again, not a problem, just don't
solicit the Armenian community's support under the pretense of representing
its interests. And, everyone, remember Chahe's and Vrej's actions and hold
them accountable.
Here, it's also worth noting the actions of the Hnchags' Armenian Council of
America- PAC. In the council race, they endorsed Greg and Chahe. That
action is of arguable merit, you'll see why; for the school board, only
Elizabeth Mangassarian and only Tony Tartaglia for college board. They
could certainly have endorsed Nayiri and Vahe, respectively, for the other
seat available on those boards. Why didn't they? It seems to fit the
pattern of avoiding supporting those who are, in their minds, too closely
associated with the ANC or ARF. This can only hurt our community's
interests in the broader, non-Armenian, arena.
The second factor to which some are attributing these results is
anti-Armenian sentiments in the Glendale community. I even heard this from
one of the non-Armenian candidates. While this may account for some votes,
I think a more appropriately phrased assessment would be that there was a
fear of having four Armenians on the council. Why this should be a concern
is beyond me. But, the notion is there. Even some Armenians think that
way.
Dissatisfaction with the sitting council over development issues is the
third factor. It hurt Rafi, and possibly Greg, too, since a significant
portion of his non-Armenian support came from the business community.
Some are saying these disappointing results are good. Presumably they think
it will lead us to reassess our strength and not become too arrogant of our
electoral prowess in Glendale. Intereting though this notion is, I don't
buy it. There are too many factors at play for that kind of direct, linear
conclusion to be drawn.
Those who don't live in Glendale may think this article is way too
parochial. But the lessons learned in the thick of the Armenian ghetto can
be very instructive to Armenians elsewhere who have political aspirations.
Get the political bug. Enter the fray. But please, don't abuse you own
community's trust.
------------------------------------------- -----------------------
4. Henri Troyat (1911-2007)
By Khatchig Mouradian
In his 2000 Nobel lecture delivered at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Gao
Xingjian, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, said, "There is no
greater consolation for a writer than to be able to leave a book in
humankind's vast treasury of literature that will continue to be read in the
future." It is with this great consolation that Armenian-born French author
Henri Troyat embraced the great beyond on March 2 at the age of 95, leaving
behind more than 100 novels, biographies and plays.
Biographer, novelist and historian Levon Aslan Torossian (or Lev Aslanovich
Tarasov) was born in Moscow in Nov. 1, 1911, to Aslan (later Lucien)
Tarasov, a rich Armenian merchant from Armavir, and Lydia Abessolomoff, the
daughter of a doctor in Ekaterinoder. He was the youngest of three children.
The family left all their possessions behind and fled Russia during the
revolution, moving to the Caucasus, then to the Crimea, Istanbul and Venice,
finally settling in Paris in 1920.
His first novel, Faux Jour, came out when he was completing his mandatory
French military service. It was pleasantly welcomed in France and considered
"a quite remarkable debut" (Jean Vaudal). Prior to the publication,
Torossian changed his name to Henri Troyat.
Troyat's fifth novel, L'Araigne, was published when he was 27 and secured
him France's top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt. This would be the first
of many awards and decorations, including the highest order of the Légion d'honneur,
the Grand Croix (Great Cross).
His last novel, La Traque, and his last biography, Pasternak, were published
in 2006.
Troyat, who avoided talking about his Armenian heritage, wrote biographies
of major Russian figures (Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Catherine the Great,
Peter the Great, Alexander I, Alexander II, Alexander III, Nicholas I,
Nicholas II, Ivan the Terrible, Chekov, Turgenev, Gorky, Rasputin and
others) and French writers (Zola, Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Verlaine,
Baudelaire and Dumas).
I asked Professor Nicolas Hewitt, author of Henry Troyat (Twayne Publishers,
1984), about the legacy of the French author of Russian-Armenian descent.
"Troyat was one of the most accomplished and prolific authors in French in
the 20th century who excelled in most prose genres (short stories, short
novels, novel-cycles, biography and reportage) and was unusual in being able
to cross the barrier between popular and "high-brow" writing," Hewitt said.
"He made a major contribution to the development and success of the extended
historical novel-cycle in French and was a most important popular-but also
expert-biographer of Russian writers and Tsars. He played a major role in
bringing knowledge and empathy for Russian history and culture to France
through his fiction and his biographies, and he will remain as one of the
major, and most accessible, conduits of Russian culture and history into
France."
Moreover, "Troyat showed himself to be one of the most inventive and
innovative short-story writers in French in the 20th century, often highly
influenced by Russian authors," explained Hewitt. "And this may prove to be
one of his foremost legacies,".
Troyat was elected to the Academie Francaise on May 21, 1959, and became the
longest-standing member of the Academie of 40 "immortals" who safeguard the
French language.
A favorite writer of the French, Troyat is not unknown to readers in the
land of Uncle Sam. In 1953, his novel La neige en deuil, translated as The
Mountain, was published in the U.S. and enjoyed great success. It later
became a Hollywood film starring Spencer Tracy. In the early 60s, Newsweek
called him "a fine writer deeply persuaded by the finer, sympathetic strains
in man." In the following decades, almost all his books were translated to
English and Troyat garnered some recognition in the English-speaking world.
"Some of Troyat's work has sold well in the U.S., although he has not
received a large amount of coverage," said Hewitt, who met Troyat in his
apartment on Rue Bonaparte in 1981.
Troyat's work has also been translated to Hebrew, Chinese, Spanish and many
other languages.
"Success means nothing," Troyat once said, according to Le Figaro. "I know
what I'm talking about. At the very beginning of my life, I saw my parents
lose everything in a reversal of fortune, and I kept that lesson in mind."
Troyat is survived by his two sons.
His funeral was held in Paris on March 9.
----------------------------------------------- -------------------
5. Beyond Death .
By Vahé Oshagan
July 30 1982, Radnor, Pennsylvania
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
The film hardly over
I take awareness down the walls
I wash I dry and iron
I fold it with great care
and put it back
then
I empty my pockets
lock the door of my house
and step out for a walk in neighborhood streets
in tight tedious transparent silence
windows open puzzled faces sway hanging by a thread
they water the flowerpots man and wife stare in silence facing each other
behind the curtain
miles of cars crawl leaning against the prison wall
in the distance loveless vicious nudity of a jobless over-sixty
prostitute
lays down licentious holiness
a vast amassed massive blanket of shame reaching
heaven
covering creatures in a hurry to hide
god-conjuring sluggish sperms of immaculate conception will soon swim
on the surface of a single drop of time's swamp
dripping from the rusty dry faucet
in demented quest as to why
only word can conceive and craft birth through word yet to be born
leaning on the tub of its awesome solitude
now cracked imbibed in the drab desert midday
a callous voracious hunger sucks it and shields it from its shame
enormous sheet of the cosmos keeps shimmering soft and vast
extended yearning soars breaching the light
with no need to hide
there is no more call for passport, no more appointments
the word knows only itself
cowering in a corner on the floor of a locked orphanage cell.
***
So this is what it was -
that which looked at me with my eyes from the sightless light
with the thin white staff in hand
clearing the way for me out of the canvas of wilderness
paths get lost before coming to life.
Was this then the old tailor that gamboled around us?
We were neither allowed to touch the mannequin
nor to scream or protest
as to why we were crucified on an unsolvable crossword puzzle
with eyes gouged tongue clipped heart seared and abandoned.
Was this what murmured in the mist enthralled threatened
stammering from the prompter's dark pit half asleep
chuckling under its breath
while below
we take it seriously we sink into mourning incense singeing our eyes
until it is Saturday night and a thousand crumbs after the feast
in the messy teeming hall god dances dead drunk feeling no pain
dragging us along over shards of broken bottles to a gypsy peek-a-boo
refrain
does anything show?
He smokes all alone standing beyond the short fellow
waiting for the Hungarian waiter to come near whisper in his ear
"there's a phone call Monsieur Jaques"
and still farther much farther somewhere someone in the night
sitting by the phone eyes on the door in the din of the cabaret
and even further at the helix of the anchors' root memory
so many echoes within each other until the last and first query.
which is no question - than what is it? - a butterfly's ellipsis of growling
until this place
from where nothing is seen of the answer pasted on boards
demonstrators with eyes shut we whirl around and round
this apparently is what they call life
the leaves of the storm the drops beneath the walls of the ruins
we rally for a moment
there is no rest for your remains they wait for you they will take part in
the demonstration
hurry, hurry. Attila's soldiers abduct and move on
in the darkness of the movies they will screw everyone
nothing is heard above the screams and sobs, if they would only turn on the
light
but it's too late, it's always late, it all restarts from the start behind
your back
life was born and died where were you? What were you up to.?
But there is nothing to be afraid of
death is a word
gratis worthless mirage of a lifebelt thrown into a vagrant
moment's ocean
glittering among nipples of untouchable prancing waves
it glistens under the unreachable ceiling
lying down in its glow
hugging my life my mistress runs away like a conjured song
leaving me there disconsolate - but I'm still alive
behind the light in the core of the pyramid the mummies disrobe
I shall enfold in my arms enchanted appearances
those naked souls in labor in gardens of adolescence
seemed to have suddenly found me.
Death is a word that does not die with men
it loiters nearby in the shadows
waiting for people to set a supper table once more
so that he may mingle with this noisy crowd
we are all gathered near one restaurant door
clueless that it's locked from inside and out
they told us there are openings for help and we came
we are here now, seeking an excuse to remain
and our noses stuck to the windowpane
we look inside hungry as hell
there was once a fugitive word that found refuge there
orphaned widowed half naked lascivious body coiled up in a corner
it snoozes in an insomniac's dream of a myriad grains of sand we go astray
each one of us sleepwalking and wandering in a cell
hanging on to syllables we are carried off scrap by scrap.
how are we to wake up, to whom shall we relate our dream?
We must get the word drunk extort swiftly the secret
and kill it
then while at it get hold of the mystery as well
silence it
and listen to the divine rant and rave.
Go mad if you can
sit on the stone threshold and play checkers all alone
the cloud's shadow slides, who is singing in the bathroom?
That which falls out of the words will laugh forever
tongue-tied for three hours we are shivering around the stranger's cadaver
in the cracks of the monumental parapet the bees have built hives
from halitosis the crud of feet beatings spit and shit we were born
seven brothers
where shall we get gasoline? We split up in the midnight of nuptials
and we still look for each other on the sidewalks of life's demise
in the early morning teetering silent tourists standing in groups around the
bus
we shall stare at the ramparts of bafflement until late night
there is no place to remain concealed from now on
from this point on the bones become visible under the skin of the
meaningless
there is no return from the grave any more
there's no more standing room by the mound to hang on to the last glimmer of
grief
nor to suddenly lighten up and hover above the earth,
with pale meaty palms we shall greet each other from some distance
asking "is this my forebear. is this my ill-fated offspring?"
For heaven's sake do something a word a sound a sign
I don't know what, who is dead who is alive until they reach me
everyone I see is in mourning clad in black moaning for something
and who the hell cares?
I laugh at them from indoor mirrors and outdoors
holding their breath at bus-stop sheds scattered here and there
the only canvas of lavish mulish and pointless nature
I stretch and yawn yet I am awake
my very core thrown out like a pan-handler from the kitchen of all fare
runs to me crying begging me at least not to take him in jest
this my good man is no joke it is death
when do we ever meet again?
We who did not fall victim to a crash at a muddy crossroad
but were there by chance as pedestrians
hang around staring at it while years go by
praise the lord, clueless of life death remains our only hope
to fetch the echo of meanings from beyond
who knows? Maybe that's what covers the nudity
of the blood soaked stranger on the ground.
The huge filthy buzzard flaps its wings with fervor
through the stench of carrion hyenas open up to the smell of spring
the ashes leave a taste of sour medicine on the tongues of lame saints
it is the last gas station abandoned nameless
a thousand miles of desert stretches fore and aft
from dumb plant roots to the stone periphery of thundering
mountain range
immobilized the masked abstruse and enormous processions
linger in the dust.
Do not be terrified of words
they are by far more befuddled than us by the event
that at this minute rises with the sun saturates all depressed
motionless on its way home.
"Am I dead?" One can barely hear the voice
there's a big concert of bare-assed pigmy cells all day long
gathered from streets forests hallways
in my house they dance and dance around the coffin
all the inhabitants of the suburb are already there
the murdered bride and groom lie on the ground side by side
men in women's garb and disguise loiter along the walls
illicit deities in deacon-frocks seek employment all around
wherever I turn - are curtains going up or slowly coming down?
Before and after me
boundless seashore of the mill of sands and sunshine.
I have always been different
trivial cork banished by the growl of futile conflict with disgrace
tackling the flight of the flow from this massive bottleneck of a universe.
I reject the armistice of life and death
arranged immortality is at hand patched with the remains
of my minutes
along the loins of which fiery-cheeked meaty brides lay down quivering
until lines form around the eyes and bloody black knots come to rest.
My combat has no noun has no verb
it is a protest about itself for itself to itself
at its awful hunger and depletion
while the machine rumbles in hearts demolishes impossible to stop
people mesmerized by turn every hour on the hour are taken away immobilized
only my death arrives on time for the appointment but does not wait
picks up whatever it finds and leaves
and we stay
all that I inherited from love of life illusion of bliss
the slip-up of being human
whatever was left of the substantive's dream.
It comes home
opens wide doors and windows
leaps out to the yard
washes in the rain
dries itself with a whiff of the wind
enfolds in a leaf with great care
grabs a filament of light
curls up in a grain of dust,
then
stands in line behind the others, motionless.
Waiting at a distance
I watch.
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
6. Bunker Hill Remembers Genocides
By Andy Turpin
BOSTON, Mass (A.W.)-On April 11, Bunker Hill Community College commemorated
Holocaust Remembrance Day by hosting a panel discussion on the topic of
understanding genocides.
Claudia A. Fox Tree spoke on the genocide of the Native Americans; Boston
College associate professor of history Dr. Devin Pendas spoke on the
Holocaust; BC associate professor Dr. Zine Magubane discussed the history of
genocide in Africa; and ANCA Eastern Region chair and professor of history
as Westfield State College Dikran Kaligian talked about the history and
present politics of the Armenian Genocide.
Bunker Hill Office of Diversity and Inclusion director Dr. Pelonomi K.
Khumoetsile-Taylor provided introductions.
Fox Tree said that throughout her K-12 education, she had never come across
the word "Arawak," her tribe of origin. She said it's become a lot easier
with the internet to educate the youth about the genocide of the Native
American population. "We're rebuilding our culture. Frequently what we're
taught isn't the whole truth."
Fox Tree derided Christopher Columbus as "the first person in this land to
instigate a genocide on a people." She quoted from his journal, where he
recorded his perceptions of the Arawak and the exported Spanish Inquisition.
"Slavery will secure their souls," he had written unequivocally.
She also said that the monies used to fund Columbus's expeditions were
confiscated from the Jews expelled from Iberia, adding, "The history of
Native peoples is the history of every nation."
Fox Tree illustrated the brutality of the Columbus expedition-often glossed
over in school history texts. "Young girls ages 9 and 10 were the most
desirable to his men," she said. Quoting from the journal of a Columbus
soldier, she read, "I took a rope and thrashed her well." After raping the
Arawak child, he added, "She seemed to have been raised in a school of
harlots."
Another journal excerpt, quoted from a more remorse-minded soldier, recalled
that "A ship following the trail of dead Indians cast overboard in the sea
could travel without compass from the Bahamas to Hispanola."
She ended her presentation with the response of President Andrew Jackson
upon hearing that Supreme Court Judge John Marshall had ruled in favor of
the Cherokee tribe staying on their land-"Judge Marshall has made his
decision, now let him enforce it," he had said.
Dr. Pendas spoke next about the nature of genocide and the Holocaust, citing
the first recorded genocide by current parameters to be that of the Romans
perpetrated against the Carthaginians in antiquity, when they salted the
earth so that not even plants would remain.
He spoke of the importance of knowing the different definitions of genocide
and how they are manipulated by politics. Speaking of the Raphael Lempkin
definition of genocide that emerged after WWII, Pendas said, "Political and
class terms are often excluded from the UN definition, in part because the
Soviet Union advocated not to include political affiliation" to enable
future Stalinist purges such as those in 1930s.
He explained, "The point of ethnic cleansing is because you want their land
and it often tips into genocide. In genocide, the point is the killing."
He warned, too, that "Genocidal killing is almost always a Utopian project,
a form of perverse community building."
Speaking about the Holocaust, Pendas listed what he described as the four E's
indicative of the genocidal process: exclusion, emigration, enclosure and
extermination. He added that the Germans and French had a distorted
perception of the European Jew. "Not only were they inferior, they were all
powerful," he said. Pendas then deemed the early Nuremberg Laws enacted by
the Nazis against the Jews and other minorities as "state-sponsored
gangsterism."
Magubane spoke next about genocide in Africa with an emphasis on the 1994
Rwandan genocide, asserting that it had begun with the import of Belgian
colonial and post-colonial theories on race and tribe identification-a
process she deemed the "thingification" or the dehumanization of the other
prior to the killings. She cited General Romeo Dallaire's accounts of the
Rwandan genocide as exemplary source materials for those desirous of further
information on the topic.
Kaligian was the final speaker, giving the audience a basic history of the
Armenian Genocide and the politics of Turkey's denial that continue to this
day. He retorted to Turkey's infamous claim that Armenians were killed in
the fog of war. "In peacetime," he said, "it's harder to pull off a
genocide. ... Many Armenians were 800 miles from the war zone."
He then noted the absurd reality that existed when the Turks sent gendarmes
to collect Armenian arms from the villages. "If you didn't have a rifle, you
had to buy one to turn over to be in pictures, so the Turks could say, 'Oh,
look at the rebellion they're planning.'"
Khumoetsile-Taylor concluded the event with a challenge to all in attendance
to "Everyday, do something for somebody else-and don't talk about it."
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
7. Jay Winter Speaks at Tufts on Human Rights Utopia and the Legacy of Rene
Cassin
By Andy Turpin
MEDFORD, Mass. (A.W.)-Jay Winter, the Charles J. Stille Professor of History
at Yale University, spoke at the April 24th Armenian Genocide Remembrance
lecture at Tufts University, organized by the Armenian Club and presented at
the Tufts Goddard Chapel.
Winter began by noting the long yet under recorded history of the human
rights movement. "The movement from civil rights to human rights is one of
the most important of the 20th century," he said. "The Armenian Genocide is
the fundamental premise on which a new theory of state sovereignty
developed."
That theory based state sovereignty on human rights for all-regardless of
citizenship, race, religion, ethnicity and geographical location-and was the
brainchild of lawyers Rene Cassin and Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term
genocide; both were of European Jewish ancestry.
Winter focused his talk on the often overshadowed and unknown history of
Cassin. He told of Cassin's contributions to the formation of the Council of
Europe and the European Union. "Cassin said that it was impossible for there
to be any new Europe after the Nazis without Turkey recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. This was in 1948!"
He compared this notion to the current human rights politics of the United
States-epitomized by Harry S. Truman's belief that human rights policies
should not go beyond the U.S. Constitution. "The U.S. still operates on the
principles of civil rights, those laid out in the Constitution, and nothing
else," Winter said.
He advocated that US acknowledgment of universal human rights would work to
solve the problems that arise from the treatment of prisoners at the US base
in Guantanamo.
Cassin had said, "I'm really a Utopian." Winter responded, "Utopias are
frequently very realistic visions. They tell us where we are, by telling us
where we aren't. . Utopian ideas are acts of defiance."
He detailed Cassin's WWI career, his wounding in the trenches and the
horrendous treatment at the hands of the French medical service that led him
to form a French veteran's movement during the interwar years.
Winter revealed an excerpt from Cassin's files that he had wished to be read
only after his death. "Citizenship should be based on habitat, not
bloodlines," it reads. "The old definition of the state that killed a
million Armenians is still in place. My life is a failure."
Winter talked about those, himself included, who seek to pick up Cassin's
gauntlet of human rights work, whose gains have been revealed with Britain
signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1966, and France
following suit in 1972.
Winter said that intense post-colonial guilt and failed campaigns in
Algeria, Africa and Vietnam prompted these reforms. "Empire doesn't square
with human rights. If there are no norms higher than the state, then
genocide is still possible, though not probable."
He said of the Turkish state's continued denial, "If successor states aren't
responsible for the human rights violations of their predecessors, then who
is?"
He recalled the U.S. Civil War-era, when soldiers found guilty of human
rights violations were liable to be shot on the spot; he quoted the
regulation, "When a soldier puts on a uniform, he doesn't cease to be a
Christian."
Winter concluded by stating that human rights issues have become high
politics and should continue to stay in the limelight.
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Anthropologist Nona Shahnazarian at ALMA
WATERTOWN, Mass. (A.W.)-Fulbright Scholar Nona Shahnazarian gave an informal
lecture on her dissertation research at the Armenian Library and Museum of
America (ALMA). The Armenian International Women's Association (AIWA)
presented the event, and the organization's archivist Barbara Merguerian
introduced Shahnazarian.
The condensed PowerPoint version of her larger work was titled, "Kinship,
Informal Relationships and Corruption in the South Caucasus." The greater
bulk of her research also covers the nuances of "mutual aid and
patron-client relationships in a neo-traditional society."
Shahnazarian explained, "I explored the dynamics of reciprocal relationships
and micro-economies using a qualitative approach based on one month's
fieldwork in the Nagorno-Karabagh region and in the Krasnodar region of
Russia." The Krasnodar region is a mere four hours from the Sochi Armenian
community and a current location for the Hemshin.
She characterized many of these kinship and reciprocal relationships as
"twisted combinations of peculiarities of everyday life" and meticulously
diagramed the anthropologists that were crucial to her research: Max Weber
(patrimonal rule), Marshall Sahlins (theory of reciprocity), Marcel Mauss
(theory of gift) and James Scott (moral economy). Scott's studies were
highly influenced by his own studies of Sicilian and Calabrian Italian
(Naples) culture.
Talking about how these values and relationships can lead to trends of
corruption on a moral sliding scale, Shahnazarian said, "Symbolic values are
involved in these relationships. . Political power is considered a useful
addition to one's personal power. It is thought of as private property."
These constructs naturally allow for the emergence and dominance of an
oligarch system of power, such as exists in the Caucasus and Republic of
Armenia today.
Shahnazarian continued, "In conditions of un-written law, kinship
relationships serve to regulate behavior. Pseudo-kinships provide a parallel
network of support for the socially vulnerable and oppressed."
The progression to societal crime and corruption exists many times at the
behest of those few who retain power. In its worst form this behavior means
selling one's "moral collateral/capital" by becoming a criminal, prostitute,
etc.
Though supportive of social progressivism in the Caucasus for women and
gender equality, Shahnazarian spoke critically of longstanding misogynistic
traditions when she said, "We [humanity] have no good traditions in agrarian
societies."
***
(c) 2007 Armenian Weekly On-Line. All Rights Reserved.
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* * *
Armenian Weekly On-Line, Volume 73, Number 16, April 21, 2007
Interview:
1. The Weekly's Interview with Congressman McGovern
>From Armenia to Darfur: Genocide, Politics and Advocacy
Commentary:
2. The Armenian Genocide
By Kay Mouradian
3. A Bracing Slap
By Garen Yegparian
Literature:
4. Henri Troyat (1911-2007)
By Khatchig Mouradian
5. Beyond Death .
By Vahé Oshagan
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
Events:
6. Bunker Hill Remembers Genocides
By Andy Turpin
7. Jay Winter Speaks at Tufts on Human Rights Utopia and the Legacy of Rene
Cassin
By Andy Turpin
8. Anthropologist Nona Shahnazarian at ALMA
--------------------------------------------- -------------------------
1. The Weekly's Interview with Congressman McGovern
>From Armenia to Darfur: Genocide, Politics and Advocacy
WORCESTER, Mass. (A.W.)-Congressman James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) recently
returned from Africa where he witnessed first-hand the people of Darfur
living in refugee camps in Chad. In an interview conducted by Weekly editor
Khatchig Mouradian on April 13 in Worcester, McGovern discussed the current
humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the West's response, and the importance of
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
The interview can be viewed online at www.haireniktv.com.
Mouradian asked McGovern what he saw on the ground. "I tried to get into
Sudan and they refused to give me a visa to go in," McGovern said,
"apparently because I was arrested in front of the Sudanese embassy a year
ago in protest of the genocide in Darfur."
"So instead I flew into Chad, which neighbors Sudan, and went to the border
of Darfur and visited the refugee camps filled with Sudanese refugees," he
said.
McGovern was in awe of the people he saw there. "It was an experience, the
likes of which I've never had before in my life," he said. "I visited two
Sudanese refugee camps and dozens and dozens of refugees. Every one of them
had a horror story."
Mouradian asked why the U.S. appeared to be so lead-footed when it came to
taking decisive action to stop the genocide in Darfur. He asserted
derisively, "I think the United States is not reacting for a number of
reasons. First, we're still bogged down in Iraq right now, which is viewed
by some in the Bush administration as, 'We can't do much more than we're
doing right now.' Two, we have this tight relationship with China, and yet
China is sending helicopters and weapons to the Sudanese government, which
are being used against the people of Darfur."
He suggested the U.S. lead the charge in the world community by boycotting
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "China isn't concerned with human rights,"
he said, "but it is concerned with how it's viewed around the world."
He quashed any support for U.S. intelligence services taking a blind eye to
the genocide there on account of Sudan being an anti-terrorism ally. "Some
have told me that because the government of Sudan kicked Osama Bin Laden out
of that country, that there may be some kind of intelligence cooperation
that we [the U.S.] don't want to upset, under the 'War on Terror.' Forgive
me, but what do you call a genocide if not terror?"
McGovern called for an immediate UN Security Council Resolution to safeguard
the Darfur region, and in the meantime rallied, "We need to start talking
about things like a 'no-fly zone' that a combination of France and some
other countries can enforce. There's a French military base in Chad that
could be used to keep the planes to enforce a no-fly zone over Sudan."
Mouradian asked whether U.S. troops serving on peacekeeping missions would
be well received in a post-Iraq world. "A UN peacekeeping force probably won't
consist of U.S. troops," McGovern admitted. "Because quite frankly our
credibility around the world is so diminished that having U.S. troops there
would probably add fuel to the fire. Further, you want people who speak the
language and are sensitive to the issues of Darfur."
McGovern pragmatically outlined what he thought the U.S. role should be.
"Seventy-three percent of the American people believe we should take action
in Darfur. And we can provide the funding, or some of the funding, for a UN
peacekeeping force. That's what our role can be, to provide logistic support
where it's appropriate."
He chided the nation's current efforts. "I am ashamed as a Congressman, a
citizen of the United States and a citizen of the world that we're not doing
more."
McGovern praised the Armenian community for its solidarity with the Darfur
intervention activists, saying, "One of the things I think the Armenian
community has been out front on is that issue of ending the genocide in
Darfur. Because of the unique history of the Armenian people, I think they
have a special understanding, a painful understanding of what a genocide is
and what it feels like to be ignored."
Promoting a resolute and motivated campaign of activism and letter writing,
he said. "I tell people they need to raise hell with their Congressmen and
Senators. Tell them, this is an issue I expect you, as my Senator, to take a
leadership role on. Don't tell me you're sympathetic with the situation. Don't
send me back a letter saying you, too, believe it's genocide. What I want is
a letter back from you that you're pushing the Bush administration and the
international community."
McGovern spoke about the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Congress
and the Turkish lobby's attempts to prevent its passage. He was adamant in
saying, "I'm tired of excuses. We need to do what's right. We need to do
what's truthful. That means acknowledging that there was a genocide
committed against the Armenians early in the last century. I'm sorry that
Turkey doesn't want to acknowledge the truth, but that's the truth."
"It says a lot about who you are today, when you acknowledge the past. If
Turkey wants to have a fit over this, let them have a fit over this. If they
want to remove their embassy from the United States, let them do it."
He added, "I want the House to run the bill. I want the Senate to run the
bill. Send it to the President."
McGovern ended by emphasizing that it is our civic duty as Americans to
honor the victims and survivors by acknowledging the Genocide. "They're our
people. They're our citizens. If for no other reason than to pay our proper
respects to our citizens, we should do it."
Congressman James McGovern can be reached by calling (508) 831-7356 or (202)
225-6101.
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
2. The Armenian Genocide
By Kay Mouradian
My mother was a survivor of the Armenian genocide. In my youth she told me
stories about her childhood in Turkey, but those stories went in one ear and
right out the other. At the time I was not interested and didn't care to
understand what had happened to the Armenians living in Turkey during World
War I. Then at age 83 my mother's physical and mental capacity began to
fail. She was not expected to survive her congestive heart failure, but she
returned from the edge of death. She lived for another five years, but in
that time she had three more near death experiences, and each time she
became more alert than before, as if her brain cells had been revitalized.
Interestingly, she also became more loving. Everyone around her felt it.
That's when I decided to write about her childhood and the genocide that had
changed her life and had broken her heart. I spent more than 10 years
researching and writing a novel based on my mother's tragic young life in
Turkey. In my mind's eye, as I sat in front of my computer in my comfortable
home, I was there . walking in the march with my mother and her family as
they, along with two million Ottoman-Armenians, were forced from their homes
and herded toward the barren deserts of Syria.
It was an emotionally painful experience for me as this wholesale
deportation of a people became a death march. More than a million Armenians
perished through disease, starvation and exhaustion. It was much easier for
those who were murdered wholesale, for they did not endure the daily
suffering and struggle not knowing when they or their children would fall to
their deaths by the side of the road.
Turkey to this day denies that this historical event was genocide. The U.S.
government has supported Turkey in its denial and instead prefers to use
words such as mass killings, massacres, atrocities and annihilation, even as
39 of our 50 states recognize it as genocide. Today, with bipartisan support
of more than 183 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, the Armenian
Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106) will present an opportunity for the United
States to join those 19 countries that already recognize the Armenian
catastrophe as genocide.
My own research drew from the work of journalists, diplomats and
missionaries who lived in the Ottoman Empire during that horrific period.
Many at that time stated that the Armenian deportations were an attempt to
exterminate the race. Henry Morgenthau Sr., the U.S. Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire from 1913-1916, in his memoir referred to this tragedy as
"the murder of a nation." Dictionaries define genocide as the deliberate and
systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group. That simple
definition alone implies that genocide did occur against the Armenian
population in Turkey in 1915.
The word genocide did not become part of the world's vocabulary until WWII
when a Polish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, coined the word to bring attention to
Adolph Hitler's attempt to exterminate the European Jews. As with all
genocides, the intellectuals, the doctors, teachers, lawyers, opposing
politicians, and those creative souls whose art and writings inspire their
people, are the first to be eliminated. Those few Armenians who survived in
the Syrian desert with practically no sustenance, no shelter and wearing the
same clothes they wore when they were deported three years earlier, had only
one concern at the end of the war-to restore their bodies and find lost
family. None had the ability or wherewithal to think about rebuilding their
culture. Now, after the passing of a long 90 years, Armenian creativity is
beginning to flower anew, especially here in America.
The epilogue in my book informs the reader that the protagonist in my novel
is based on my mother and her family, and their trials during the Armenian
Genocide. As a victim my mother held onto that hurt and its partner, hatred,
for all of her life, but during her last five years she let go of that
hatred. Those five years were both magic and mystical, and she is an example
of what can happen when a victim lets go of deep hurt.
How much better the world would be if perpetrators exhibited that kind of
humanness and took full responsibility for their actions. If the Turks and
the Armenians, whose hatred of one another is well known throughout the
world, can sit together and have a conversation about the possibility of
reconciliation, they could become role models for those whose longstanding
and encrusted tribal attitudes have caused horrific pain to those who are
not as they.
Then, healing for both the perpetuator and the victim becomes a possibility.
------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
3. A Bracing Slap
By Garen Yegparian
Armenians were aghast and stunned by the Glendale Municipal Election
results. Many were quivering after election night. What if those Armenians
who actually did get elected (in the school and college board races) were to
lose when all the remaining ballots (late absentee, provisional and
corrected) were counted? How could this be? Isn't this "our town," our
ghetto?
Given the flavor of much of the following analysis, I feel compelled to
state that I do not always advocate supporting Armenians over non-Armenians.
Rather, I want to support those who will be best positioned to do most for
our community, no different than any other interest group.
Sit back, take a look at the election results and ponder with me. First let's
take a look at some numbers after they're manipulated.
You see that 24,173 ballots were counted. In each of the races-city
council, school board and community college board-every voter was entitled
to two votes. So a maximum of 48,346 votes were possible. In each of
these, some number of votes were blank, invalid because of overvoting (more
than two names marked), or contained write-in names, decreasing the tally.
Let's address the good news first. In the school and college board races,
the four ANC endorsees, Mary Boger (SB), Nayiri Nahabedian (SB), Vahe
Peroomian (CB) and Tony Tartaglia (CB) won. However, it was a bit of a
nail-biter for the two Armenians on this list, especially Nayiri. Given how
close the next highest vote-getter was, they both might have been bumped
after election night as the remaining ballots were counted. You might
rightly ask why this happened, but we'll get there soon. Also, Ardashes
Kassakhian, the Glendale city clerk and another child of our community's
growing electoral strength, is to be complimented on his handling of a
sometimes tense election.
The real debacle was in the city council race. An Armenian incumbent,
generally liked in the city, Rafi Manoukian, was not reelected. Dave
Weaver, the other incumbent candidate, was, along with John Drayman who had
just missed being elected two years ago. Why this happened is attributable
to three factors.
The saddest of these three is the tension, even infighting, among the
Armenian candidates. Quite simply, the two who got the least votes, Chahe
Keuroghelian and Vrej Agajanian, henceforth known as the spoilers, knowingly
cost the other two, Greg Krikorian and Rafi, the election. In their
absence, the two ANC endorsees, Rafi and Greg, would have been elected. How
can I say this confidently? I am convinced the spoilers got virtually not a
single non-Armenian's vote. As a consequence of Chahe's history, true or
not, he is unlikely to garner non-Armenian votes, and Vrej is simply an
insufficiently known quantity in anything but Armenian circles, and that,
thanks to his television show. They could easily have done the math, based
on their results two years ago, and stayed out, if indeed they had wanted to
represent the interests of the Armenian community. Let me point out that
out of a maximum possible 47,536 votes in the city council race (after
making the corrections mentioned above), tallying all the votes for all the
city council candidates yields 40,588. Where are the missing 7,000 votes?
Victims of bullet voting advocated by candidates to their closest circles.
Draw your own conclusions.
You do the math. Even if we assume that half the combined vote total of the
spoilers came from those who would not otherwise have voted, that still
leaves some 3900 votes that would likely have gone to Raffi and/or Greg.
Unfortunately, the latter two were also insufficiently supportive of one
another and ended up hurting their chances. In this context, it might have
been possible for the ANC to bring the two together, but it would have been
difficult. I suspect this rivalry also hurt supporters' enthusiasm and
inclination to campaign.
Ara Najarian's, another sitting council member, support of Rafi and Dave
Weaver hurt Greg's chances.
One of the spoilers' actions is particularly egregious. An example is his
argument that Rafi should not be elected because he is considering running
for city treasurer in two years. Why this is wrong is beyond me. Think
senators running for president mid-term. But let's assume it is wrong. The
same person making this argument, Mr. Keuroghelian, had no problem
supporting a candidate, just one year ago who was doing the same thing.
This candidate for State Assembly was none other than Frank Quintero who
would have left his City Council term unfinished had he been elected. Can
Chahe spell d-o-u-b-l-e s-t-a-n-d-a-r-d?
Frank is someone with electoral aspirations. His campaign was abetted by
those sending out hate mail attacking Paul Krekorian, the other candidate in
that race. Chahe decided to support Frank against Paul, who was the
standard bearer for the Armenian community. Chahe did not condemn the
mailer. This is all normal in the world of electoral politics. There is
something wrong when Chahe solicits the Armenian vote pretending to
represent that community's interests. There is something wrong when he
knowingly damages the chances of those running who truly do represent our
interests, not just their own political aspirations. So this spoiler has
chosen to become a tool of another political faction in town, one currently
antithetical to Armenian interests. Again, not a problem, just don't
solicit the Armenian community's support under the pretense of representing
its interests. And, everyone, remember Chahe's and Vrej's actions and hold
them accountable.
Here, it's also worth noting the actions of the Hnchags' Armenian Council of
America- PAC. In the council race, they endorsed Greg and Chahe. That
action is of arguable merit, you'll see why; for the school board, only
Elizabeth Mangassarian and only Tony Tartaglia for college board. They
could certainly have endorsed Nayiri and Vahe, respectively, for the other
seat available on those boards. Why didn't they? It seems to fit the
pattern of avoiding supporting those who are, in their minds, too closely
associated with the ANC or ARF. This can only hurt our community's
interests in the broader, non-Armenian, arena.
The second factor to which some are attributing these results is
anti-Armenian sentiments in the Glendale community. I even heard this from
one of the non-Armenian candidates. While this may account for some votes,
I think a more appropriately phrased assessment would be that there was a
fear of having four Armenians on the council. Why this should be a concern
is beyond me. But, the notion is there. Even some Armenians think that
way.
Dissatisfaction with the sitting council over development issues is the
third factor. It hurt Rafi, and possibly Greg, too, since a significant
portion of his non-Armenian support came from the business community.
Some are saying these disappointing results are good. Presumably they think
it will lead us to reassess our strength and not become too arrogant of our
electoral prowess in Glendale. Intereting though this notion is, I don't
buy it. There are too many factors at play for that kind of direct, linear
conclusion to be drawn.
Those who don't live in Glendale may think this article is way too
parochial. But the lessons learned in the thick of the Armenian ghetto can
be very instructive to Armenians elsewhere who have political aspirations.
Get the political bug. Enter the fray. But please, don't abuse you own
community's trust.
------------------------------------------- -----------------------
4. Henri Troyat (1911-2007)
By Khatchig Mouradian
In his 2000 Nobel lecture delivered at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Gao
Xingjian, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, said, "There is no
greater consolation for a writer than to be able to leave a book in
humankind's vast treasury of literature that will continue to be read in the
future." It is with this great consolation that Armenian-born French author
Henri Troyat embraced the great beyond on March 2 at the age of 95, leaving
behind more than 100 novels, biographies and plays.
Biographer, novelist and historian Levon Aslan Torossian (or Lev Aslanovich
Tarasov) was born in Moscow in Nov. 1, 1911, to Aslan (later Lucien)
Tarasov, a rich Armenian merchant from Armavir, and Lydia Abessolomoff, the
daughter of a doctor in Ekaterinoder. He was the youngest of three children.
The family left all their possessions behind and fled Russia during the
revolution, moving to the Caucasus, then to the Crimea, Istanbul and Venice,
finally settling in Paris in 1920.
His first novel, Faux Jour, came out when he was completing his mandatory
French military service. It was pleasantly welcomed in France and considered
"a quite remarkable debut" (Jean Vaudal). Prior to the publication,
Torossian changed his name to Henri Troyat.
Troyat's fifth novel, L'Araigne, was published when he was 27 and secured
him France's top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt. This would be the first
of many awards and decorations, including the highest order of the Légion d'honneur,
the Grand Croix (Great Cross).
His last novel, La Traque, and his last biography, Pasternak, were published
in 2006.
Troyat, who avoided talking about his Armenian heritage, wrote biographies
of major Russian figures (Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Catherine the Great,
Peter the Great, Alexander I, Alexander II, Alexander III, Nicholas I,
Nicholas II, Ivan the Terrible, Chekov, Turgenev, Gorky, Rasputin and
others) and French writers (Zola, Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Verlaine,
Baudelaire and Dumas).
I asked Professor Nicolas Hewitt, author of Henry Troyat (Twayne Publishers,
1984), about the legacy of the French author of Russian-Armenian descent.
"Troyat was one of the most accomplished and prolific authors in French in
the 20th century who excelled in most prose genres (short stories, short
novels, novel-cycles, biography and reportage) and was unusual in being able
to cross the barrier between popular and "high-brow" writing," Hewitt said.
"He made a major contribution to the development and success of the extended
historical novel-cycle in French and was a most important popular-but also
expert-biographer of Russian writers and Tsars. He played a major role in
bringing knowledge and empathy for Russian history and culture to France
through his fiction and his biographies, and he will remain as one of the
major, and most accessible, conduits of Russian culture and history into
France."
Moreover, "Troyat showed himself to be one of the most inventive and
innovative short-story writers in French in the 20th century, often highly
influenced by Russian authors," explained Hewitt. "And this may prove to be
one of his foremost legacies,".
Troyat was elected to the Academie Francaise on May 21, 1959, and became the
longest-standing member of the Academie of 40 "immortals" who safeguard the
French language.
A favorite writer of the French, Troyat is not unknown to readers in the
land of Uncle Sam. In 1953, his novel La neige en deuil, translated as The
Mountain, was published in the U.S. and enjoyed great success. It later
became a Hollywood film starring Spencer Tracy. In the early 60s, Newsweek
called him "a fine writer deeply persuaded by the finer, sympathetic strains
in man." In the following decades, almost all his books were translated to
English and Troyat garnered some recognition in the English-speaking world.
"Some of Troyat's work has sold well in the U.S., although he has not
received a large amount of coverage," said Hewitt, who met Troyat in his
apartment on Rue Bonaparte in 1981.
Troyat's work has also been translated to Hebrew, Chinese, Spanish and many
other languages.
"Success means nothing," Troyat once said, according to Le Figaro. "I know
what I'm talking about. At the very beginning of my life, I saw my parents
lose everything in a reversal of fortune, and I kept that lesson in mind."
Troyat is survived by his two sons.
His funeral was held in Paris on March 9.
----------------------------------------------- -------------------
5. Beyond Death .
By Vahé Oshagan
July 30 1982, Radnor, Pennsylvania
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
The film hardly over
I take awareness down the walls
I wash I dry and iron
I fold it with great care
and put it back
then
I empty my pockets
lock the door of my house
and step out for a walk in neighborhood streets
in tight tedious transparent silence
windows open puzzled faces sway hanging by a thread
they water the flowerpots man and wife stare in silence facing each other
behind the curtain
miles of cars crawl leaning against the prison wall
in the distance loveless vicious nudity of a jobless over-sixty
prostitute
lays down licentious holiness
a vast amassed massive blanket of shame reaching
heaven
covering creatures in a hurry to hide
god-conjuring sluggish sperms of immaculate conception will soon swim
on the surface of a single drop of time's swamp
dripping from the rusty dry faucet
in demented quest as to why
only word can conceive and craft birth through word yet to be born
leaning on the tub of its awesome solitude
now cracked imbibed in the drab desert midday
a callous voracious hunger sucks it and shields it from its shame
enormous sheet of the cosmos keeps shimmering soft and vast
extended yearning soars breaching the light
with no need to hide
there is no more call for passport, no more appointments
the word knows only itself
cowering in a corner on the floor of a locked orphanage cell.
***
So this is what it was -
that which looked at me with my eyes from the sightless light
with the thin white staff in hand
clearing the way for me out of the canvas of wilderness
paths get lost before coming to life.
Was this then the old tailor that gamboled around us?
We were neither allowed to touch the mannequin
nor to scream or protest
as to why we were crucified on an unsolvable crossword puzzle
with eyes gouged tongue clipped heart seared and abandoned.
Was this what murmured in the mist enthralled threatened
stammering from the prompter's dark pit half asleep
chuckling under its breath
while below
we take it seriously we sink into mourning incense singeing our eyes
until it is Saturday night and a thousand crumbs after the feast
in the messy teeming hall god dances dead drunk feeling no pain
dragging us along over shards of broken bottles to a gypsy peek-a-boo
refrain
does anything show?
He smokes all alone standing beyond the short fellow
waiting for the Hungarian waiter to come near whisper in his ear
"there's a phone call Monsieur Jaques"
and still farther much farther somewhere someone in the night
sitting by the phone eyes on the door in the din of the cabaret
and even further at the helix of the anchors' root memory
so many echoes within each other until the last and first query.
which is no question - than what is it? - a butterfly's ellipsis of growling
until this place
from where nothing is seen of the answer pasted on boards
demonstrators with eyes shut we whirl around and round
this apparently is what they call life
the leaves of the storm the drops beneath the walls of the ruins
we rally for a moment
there is no rest for your remains they wait for you they will take part in
the demonstration
hurry, hurry. Attila's soldiers abduct and move on
in the darkness of the movies they will screw everyone
nothing is heard above the screams and sobs, if they would only turn on the
light
but it's too late, it's always late, it all restarts from the start behind
your back
life was born and died where were you? What were you up to.?
But there is nothing to be afraid of
death is a word
gratis worthless mirage of a lifebelt thrown into a vagrant
moment's ocean
glittering among nipples of untouchable prancing waves
it glistens under the unreachable ceiling
lying down in its glow
hugging my life my mistress runs away like a conjured song
leaving me there disconsolate - but I'm still alive
behind the light in the core of the pyramid the mummies disrobe
I shall enfold in my arms enchanted appearances
those naked souls in labor in gardens of adolescence
seemed to have suddenly found me.
Death is a word that does not die with men
it loiters nearby in the shadows
waiting for people to set a supper table once more
so that he may mingle with this noisy crowd
we are all gathered near one restaurant door
clueless that it's locked from inside and out
they told us there are openings for help and we came
we are here now, seeking an excuse to remain
and our noses stuck to the windowpane
we look inside hungry as hell
there was once a fugitive word that found refuge there
orphaned widowed half naked lascivious body coiled up in a corner
it snoozes in an insomniac's dream of a myriad grains of sand we go astray
each one of us sleepwalking and wandering in a cell
hanging on to syllables we are carried off scrap by scrap.
how are we to wake up, to whom shall we relate our dream?
We must get the word drunk extort swiftly the secret
and kill it
then while at it get hold of the mystery as well
silence it
and listen to the divine rant and rave.
Go mad if you can
sit on the stone threshold and play checkers all alone
the cloud's shadow slides, who is singing in the bathroom?
That which falls out of the words will laugh forever
tongue-tied for three hours we are shivering around the stranger's cadaver
in the cracks of the monumental parapet the bees have built hives
from halitosis the crud of feet beatings spit and shit we were born
seven brothers
where shall we get gasoline? We split up in the midnight of nuptials
and we still look for each other on the sidewalks of life's demise
in the early morning teetering silent tourists standing in groups around the
bus
we shall stare at the ramparts of bafflement until late night
there is no place to remain concealed from now on
from this point on the bones become visible under the skin of the
meaningless
there is no return from the grave any more
there's no more standing room by the mound to hang on to the last glimmer of
grief
nor to suddenly lighten up and hover above the earth,
with pale meaty palms we shall greet each other from some distance
asking "is this my forebear. is this my ill-fated offspring?"
For heaven's sake do something a word a sound a sign
I don't know what, who is dead who is alive until they reach me
everyone I see is in mourning clad in black moaning for something
and who the hell cares?
I laugh at them from indoor mirrors and outdoors
holding their breath at bus-stop sheds scattered here and there
the only canvas of lavish mulish and pointless nature
I stretch and yawn yet I am awake
my very core thrown out like a pan-handler from the kitchen of all fare
runs to me crying begging me at least not to take him in jest
this my good man is no joke it is death
when do we ever meet again?
We who did not fall victim to a crash at a muddy crossroad
but were there by chance as pedestrians
hang around staring at it while years go by
praise the lord, clueless of life death remains our only hope
to fetch the echo of meanings from beyond
who knows? Maybe that's what covers the nudity
of the blood soaked stranger on the ground.
The huge filthy buzzard flaps its wings with fervor
through the stench of carrion hyenas open up to the smell of spring
the ashes leave a taste of sour medicine on the tongues of lame saints
it is the last gas station abandoned nameless
a thousand miles of desert stretches fore and aft
from dumb plant roots to the stone periphery of thundering
mountain range
immobilized the masked abstruse and enormous processions
linger in the dust.
Do not be terrified of words
they are by far more befuddled than us by the event
that at this minute rises with the sun saturates all depressed
motionless on its way home.
"Am I dead?" One can barely hear the voice
there's a big concert of bare-assed pigmy cells all day long
gathered from streets forests hallways
in my house they dance and dance around the coffin
all the inhabitants of the suburb are already there
the murdered bride and groom lie on the ground side by side
men in women's garb and disguise loiter along the walls
illicit deities in deacon-frocks seek employment all around
wherever I turn - are curtains going up or slowly coming down?
Before and after me
boundless seashore of the mill of sands and sunshine.
I have always been different
trivial cork banished by the growl of futile conflict with disgrace
tackling the flight of the flow from this massive bottleneck of a universe.
I reject the armistice of life and death
arranged immortality is at hand patched with the remains
of my minutes
along the loins of which fiery-cheeked meaty brides lay down quivering
until lines form around the eyes and bloody black knots come to rest.
My combat has no noun has no verb
it is a protest about itself for itself to itself
at its awful hunger and depletion
while the machine rumbles in hearts demolishes impossible to stop
people mesmerized by turn every hour on the hour are taken away immobilized
only my death arrives on time for the appointment but does not wait
picks up whatever it finds and leaves
and we stay
all that I inherited from love of life illusion of bliss
the slip-up of being human
whatever was left of the substantive's dream.
It comes home
opens wide doors and windows
leaps out to the yard
washes in the rain
dries itself with a whiff of the wind
enfolds in a leaf with great care
grabs a filament of light
curls up in a grain of dust,
then
stands in line behind the others, motionless.
Waiting at a distance
I watch.
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
6. Bunker Hill Remembers Genocides
By Andy Turpin
BOSTON, Mass (A.W.)-On April 11, Bunker Hill Community College commemorated
Holocaust Remembrance Day by hosting a panel discussion on the topic of
understanding genocides.
Claudia A. Fox Tree spoke on the genocide of the Native Americans; Boston
College associate professor of history Dr. Devin Pendas spoke on the
Holocaust; BC associate professor Dr. Zine Magubane discussed the history of
genocide in Africa; and ANCA Eastern Region chair and professor of history
as Westfield State College Dikran Kaligian talked about the history and
present politics of the Armenian Genocide.
Bunker Hill Office of Diversity and Inclusion director Dr. Pelonomi K.
Khumoetsile-Taylor provided introductions.
Fox Tree said that throughout her K-12 education, she had never come across
the word "Arawak," her tribe of origin. She said it's become a lot easier
with the internet to educate the youth about the genocide of the Native
American population. "We're rebuilding our culture. Frequently what we're
taught isn't the whole truth."
Fox Tree derided Christopher Columbus as "the first person in this land to
instigate a genocide on a people." She quoted from his journal, where he
recorded his perceptions of the Arawak and the exported Spanish Inquisition.
"Slavery will secure their souls," he had written unequivocally.
She also said that the monies used to fund Columbus's expeditions were
confiscated from the Jews expelled from Iberia, adding, "The history of
Native peoples is the history of every nation."
Fox Tree illustrated the brutality of the Columbus expedition-often glossed
over in school history texts. "Young girls ages 9 and 10 were the most
desirable to his men," she said. Quoting from the journal of a Columbus
soldier, she read, "I took a rope and thrashed her well." After raping the
Arawak child, he added, "She seemed to have been raised in a school of
harlots."
Another journal excerpt, quoted from a more remorse-minded soldier, recalled
that "A ship following the trail of dead Indians cast overboard in the sea
could travel without compass from the Bahamas to Hispanola."
She ended her presentation with the response of President Andrew Jackson
upon hearing that Supreme Court Judge John Marshall had ruled in favor of
the Cherokee tribe staying on their land-"Judge Marshall has made his
decision, now let him enforce it," he had said.
Dr. Pendas spoke next about the nature of genocide and the Holocaust, citing
the first recorded genocide by current parameters to be that of the Romans
perpetrated against the Carthaginians in antiquity, when they salted the
earth so that not even plants would remain.
He spoke of the importance of knowing the different definitions of genocide
and how they are manipulated by politics. Speaking of the Raphael Lempkin
definition of genocide that emerged after WWII, Pendas said, "Political and
class terms are often excluded from the UN definition, in part because the
Soviet Union advocated not to include political affiliation" to enable
future Stalinist purges such as those in 1930s.
He explained, "The point of ethnic cleansing is because you want their land
and it often tips into genocide. In genocide, the point is the killing."
He warned, too, that "Genocidal killing is almost always a Utopian project,
a form of perverse community building."
Speaking about the Holocaust, Pendas listed what he described as the four E's
indicative of the genocidal process: exclusion, emigration, enclosure and
extermination. He added that the Germans and French had a distorted
perception of the European Jew. "Not only were they inferior, they were all
powerful," he said. Pendas then deemed the early Nuremberg Laws enacted by
the Nazis against the Jews and other minorities as "state-sponsored
gangsterism."
Magubane spoke next about genocide in Africa with an emphasis on the 1994
Rwandan genocide, asserting that it had begun with the import of Belgian
colonial and post-colonial theories on race and tribe identification-a
process she deemed the "thingification" or the dehumanization of the other
prior to the killings. She cited General Romeo Dallaire's accounts of the
Rwandan genocide as exemplary source materials for those desirous of further
information on the topic.
Kaligian was the final speaker, giving the audience a basic history of the
Armenian Genocide and the politics of Turkey's denial that continue to this
day. He retorted to Turkey's infamous claim that Armenians were killed in
the fog of war. "In peacetime," he said, "it's harder to pull off a
genocide. ... Many Armenians were 800 miles from the war zone."
He then noted the absurd reality that existed when the Turks sent gendarmes
to collect Armenian arms from the villages. "If you didn't have a rifle, you
had to buy one to turn over to be in pictures, so the Turks could say, 'Oh,
look at the rebellion they're planning.'"
Khumoetsile-Taylor concluded the event with a challenge to all in attendance
to "Everyday, do something for somebody else-and don't talk about it."
---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
7. Jay Winter Speaks at Tufts on Human Rights Utopia and the Legacy of Rene
Cassin
By Andy Turpin
MEDFORD, Mass. (A.W.)-Jay Winter, the Charles J. Stille Professor of History
at Yale University, spoke at the April 24th Armenian Genocide Remembrance
lecture at Tufts University, organized by the Armenian Club and presented at
the Tufts Goddard Chapel.
Winter began by noting the long yet under recorded history of the human
rights movement. "The movement from civil rights to human rights is one of
the most important of the 20th century," he said. "The Armenian Genocide is
the fundamental premise on which a new theory of state sovereignty
developed."
That theory based state sovereignty on human rights for all-regardless of
citizenship, race, religion, ethnicity and geographical location-and was the
brainchild of lawyers Rene Cassin and Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term
genocide; both were of European Jewish ancestry.
Winter focused his talk on the often overshadowed and unknown history of
Cassin. He told of Cassin's contributions to the formation of the Council of
Europe and the European Union. "Cassin said that it was impossible for there
to be any new Europe after the Nazis without Turkey recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. This was in 1948!"
He compared this notion to the current human rights politics of the United
States-epitomized by Harry S. Truman's belief that human rights policies
should not go beyond the U.S. Constitution. "The U.S. still operates on the
principles of civil rights, those laid out in the Constitution, and nothing
else," Winter said.
He advocated that US acknowledgment of universal human rights would work to
solve the problems that arise from the treatment of prisoners at the US base
in Guantanamo.
Cassin had said, "I'm really a Utopian." Winter responded, "Utopias are
frequently very realistic visions. They tell us where we are, by telling us
where we aren't. . Utopian ideas are acts of defiance."
He detailed Cassin's WWI career, his wounding in the trenches and the
horrendous treatment at the hands of the French medical service that led him
to form a French veteran's movement during the interwar years.
Winter revealed an excerpt from Cassin's files that he had wished to be read
only after his death. "Citizenship should be based on habitat, not
bloodlines," it reads. "The old definition of the state that killed a
million Armenians is still in place. My life is a failure."
Winter talked about those, himself included, who seek to pick up Cassin's
gauntlet of human rights work, whose gains have been revealed with Britain
signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1966, and France
following suit in 1972.
Winter said that intense post-colonial guilt and failed campaigns in
Algeria, Africa and Vietnam prompted these reforms. "Empire doesn't square
with human rights. If there are no norms higher than the state, then
genocide is still possible, though not probable."
He said of the Turkish state's continued denial, "If successor states aren't
responsible for the human rights violations of their predecessors, then who
is?"
He recalled the U.S. Civil War-era, when soldiers found guilty of human
rights violations were liable to be shot on the spot; he quoted the
regulation, "When a soldier puts on a uniform, he doesn't cease to be a
Christian."
Winter concluded by stating that human rights issues have become high
politics and should continue to stay in the limelight.
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Anthropologist Nona Shahnazarian at ALMA
WATERTOWN, Mass. (A.W.)-Fulbright Scholar Nona Shahnazarian gave an informal
lecture on her dissertation research at the Armenian Library and Museum of
America (ALMA). The Armenian International Women's Association (AIWA)
presented the event, and the organization's archivist Barbara Merguerian
introduced Shahnazarian.
The condensed PowerPoint version of her larger work was titled, "Kinship,
Informal Relationships and Corruption in the South Caucasus." The greater
bulk of her research also covers the nuances of "mutual aid and
patron-client relationships in a neo-traditional society."
Shahnazarian explained, "I explored the dynamics of reciprocal relationships
and micro-economies using a qualitative approach based on one month's
fieldwork in the Nagorno-Karabagh region and in the Krasnodar region of
Russia." The Krasnodar region is a mere four hours from the Sochi Armenian
community and a current location for the Hemshin.
She characterized many of these kinship and reciprocal relationships as
"twisted combinations of peculiarities of everyday life" and meticulously
diagramed the anthropologists that were crucial to her research: Max Weber
(patrimonal rule), Marshall Sahlins (theory of reciprocity), Marcel Mauss
(theory of gift) and James Scott (moral economy). Scott's studies were
highly influenced by his own studies of Sicilian and Calabrian Italian
(Naples) culture.
Talking about how these values and relationships can lead to trends of
corruption on a moral sliding scale, Shahnazarian said, "Symbolic values are
involved in these relationships. . Political power is considered a useful
addition to one's personal power. It is thought of as private property."
These constructs naturally allow for the emergence and dominance of an
oligarch system of power, such as exists in the Caucasus and Republic of
Armenia today.
Shahnazarian continued, "In conditions of un-written law, kinship
relationships serve to regulate behavior. Pseudo-kinships provide a parallel
network of support for the socially vulnerable and oppressed."
The progression to societal crime and corruption exists many times at the
behest of those few who retain power. In its worst form this behavior means
selling one's "moral collateral/capital" by becoming a criminal, prostitute,
etc.
Though supportive of social progressivism in the Caucasus for women and
gender equality, Shahnazarian spoke critically of longstanding misogynistic
traditions when she said, "We [humanity] have no good traditions in agrarian
societies."
***
(c) 2007 Armenian Weekly On-Line. All Rights Reserved.